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ENOS S. NICHOLS, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSICrNOIt` 'TO J. H.

IWRENTICE, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

Letters Patent No. 61,856. dated .February 5, 1867.

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To ALL WHoM 1r MAY ooNoEnN:

Be it known/ that I, ENOS S. NICHOLS, of New Haven, in the county of New Haven, and State of Con-necticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for Curving theLSprings to Sustain the Brims of Hats; nand I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof." The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification.

Figure l is a front view of my machine. l

Figure 2 is a vertical section of a portion on a larger scale, with the rolls in the condition represented in iig. -1.

Figure 2 is an enlarged section of the spring as it is being treated by the machine when inthis part of its rvolution. I K

Figure 3 is a vertical section of a portion of my machine with the rolls turned opnellwralfV around.

Figure 3 is an enlarged section of the spring as it is being treated by the machine when in this partV of its revolution. i i

Figure 4 is a view of the spring as it is nally left by the machine.-

Figures 5 and 6 are views of the spring after it is bent round and joined in the condition which it willi assume in the hat. p

The succeeding figures show another form in which the invention maybe worked out. Figure 7 is a central vertical section. Figure 8 is a cross-section on the line S S in iig. 7; and Figure 9 is a centra-l section with the rplls formed half around. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

The drawings represent the novel parts of the machine, with so much of the other parts as seems necessary` to indicate theirrelations thereto. lhe peculiarities of the machinery and of the spring are somewhat exaggerated in order to make them more plainly ,apparent in the drawings. i

A is the upper roll, aud-B isy the lowei roll. a is af groove on the upper roll A, and is a corresponding bead i on the lower roll B. -The rolls should be formedof hard metal in order to endure long usage in treating the` springs. The rolls are mounted in bearings in the housing C, and may be geared` together, and Adriven by any ordinary means not represented, so as to draw the spring through both.. My rolls are intended for forming the concave-convex springs described in the p'atent issued to Smith Collins, dated November 8, 1864. These rolls arc intended to perform the nishing -operation on the spring. The spring being introduced in a straight condition, it. is'y drawn through the rolls,` and is drawn thereby,"not uniformly over its whole surface, but more onone edge at one point, and more on the opposite edge at another point. The elfe'ct of drawing:either edgeis to ibend the ,wire, andthe alternate drawing on one side and on 'the other gives the wire a. slightlyse'rpentneforni-` The circumference of each roll is half the length of a spring. It follows that each spring contains two complete bends lto the right and' to the left. When the spring, thus bent, is formed Iinto a hoop and its ends secured, the hoop is in the right condition for-use in a hat, that is to say, it rises opposite the ears and-'drops i at the frontend back, so as to correspond-with the curvature desired in the hat brim. A

Figures 7, S and 9, show another mode of arranging the machine to produce a similar result. nthis form of the machine the groove a and bead b are true, Ythat is to say, each lies in a. plane whichis at` right angles to` the axis of the roll on which it is mounted. The alternate drawing of the wire on opposite edges, when passed through these rolls, is effected by shifting the position of the axes of the rolls. The axes of the rolls are parallel only -a portion of thc time. At oneperiod the ends toward the right are nearer together than toward the left. Ata subsequent.v period the ends towards the left arenearer togtheij, and thus they vibrate and produce the desired drawing eil'ect on the spring. There are various means by which such vibrating of the aires can be le'ected. The drawings represent one of the simplest. The upper roll A, instead of being mounted in fixed bearings in the housing C, is mounted with liberty to rise and sink at cach end. The bearings of the roll B are fixed. The shaft of the roll B is providedwith eccentrica, B1 B2, which carry stout straps, M1 M2. These straps embrace the shaft of the roll A, and form 'the bearings by whichthc roilA is held down with suleient force to compress and draw the spring. The revolution ofthe roll B'carries theaeccentricfB1 down, and the. eccentric B2 up, during one portion of its revolution, and this induces a corresponding position in the axis of the roll A. During the other` half of the revolution, the eccentrics are in the opposite position, and the roll by correspondingly tilting draws tbc spring on the opposite' edge. The rolls may carry knives or equivalent piecesoi` steel, set in, adapted to cut oil the spring in proper lengths, or to partially cut 01T the spring so that `it will easily break at the proper points to divide up the lengths of spring. In order to 'curve springs of diferent lengths, so as to go around hats of different sizes, or with different breadths of brim, I can employ different' machines for each size, or I can 'by adopting vthe construction shown in figs. 1 and 2, employ tapering rolls, and have a number of the grooves d and beads b. The grooves at the large end will roll the long springs, and the grooves at the small end will roll the shorter ones. No particular evil results fromcutting oi' the ends Within reasonable limits, and reducing the length of the springs by that means. This allows them to be manufactured a. little Ytoo long, or all of a sufficient length for the largest hoops, and then to be shortened by removing the ends at pleasure.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

Producing aI curvature or tendency to curvature in springs adapted for sustaining the brims.of hats, by passing them through rolls adapted to draw the edges alternate-lyon one side and the other, substantially as and for the purpose herein specied.

ENOS .S. NICHOLS.

Witnesses: A,

W. C. DEY, D. W. STETsoN. 

